The big achievement for today was mending fences (so to speak) with the neighbour and while it is clear there will be a very long row to hoe before we have an easy relationship, at least we are speaking again and exchanging ideas and plants and other such neighbourly tokens. I took advantage of her presence in the back yard (having read from her body language that she was less het up than she has been) and spoke to her.

The bantam remains on my property so tomorrow will call the person who agreed to take her one once before, and see if she is willing now there are six chickens thrown into the bargain.

The geese have a pond. One of the quilting ladies gave me an old plastic clam pool which is now embedded in the run with water in it. The chooks are enthralled, but the geese have yet to recognise it as a body of water. There were actually two clams but one has holes in it where the slasher bashed into it. That one I will fill with fat sand which I have discovered is a useful medium for striking cuttings. Will need to find it a permanent home before filling it though.

The mulch is back on the hedge and the fruit trees, with additional rocks on the cardboard to help it withstand the winds, and there is now a weeper hose running down the hedgeline. I have yet to test if it works as the ground is quite sodden from the rain last night, but it is at least in position. There are a few additional metres of hose left. At present they are strewn across the part of the yard that will become the potato patch, but i seem to recall that the bulk of the water is lost from weeper hoses at the tap end, so I may haul it down so that it runs along the back fence and any residual water can then irrigate the plants I have stuck in down there. Will just have to suck it and see what works.

All the raspberry canes seem to be settling in happily and those that are actually just cuttings stuck in the ground seem to be sending out shoots - so hopefully there is some root activity going on underground. Some I will sell at the markets if they strike. The rest are in the garden for my own use.